Thursday, June 29, 2017

Patch yourself against the flu

I get a flu shot every year. It's not really painful, but I have to go somewhere to do it, and it takes time. What if I could do it myself?

That may be possible in the future. A press-on patch that delivers flu vaccine painlessly worked as well as an old-fashioned flu shot with no serious side effects, researchers reported.

People who tried out the patch said it was not difficult or painful to use, and tests of their blood suggested the vaccine it delivers created about the same immune response as a regular flu shot.

Here's another thing: this is a cheaper way to vaccinate people.

“I think it would be fantastic if this was something you could get and administer it yourself at home,” one researcher said. “The reason why many years I don’t get a shot is that I don’t have time to wait in a line or whatever. It would be really awesome if I could order it and it would be delivered like Amazon Prime.”

This is a way to get better health care for less money. I believe that innovation, not government bureaucracies, is the key to our health care problem.